Dictionary entry details
• BEGINNING (noun)
Meaning:
The event consisting of the start of something
Classified under:
Nouns denoting natural events
Context example:
the beginning of the war
Hypernyms ("beginning" is a kind of...):
happening; natural event; occurrence; occurrent (an event that happens)
Hyponyms (each of the following is a kind of "beginning"):
conception; creation (the event that occurred at the beginning of something)
start (the beginning of anything)
emergence; growth; outgrowth (the gradual beginning or coming forth)
ground floor (becoming part of a venture at the beginning (regarded as position of advantage))
generation; genesis (a coming into being)
inception; origin; origination (an event that is a beginning; a first part or stage of subsequent events)
egress; emergence; issue (the becoming visible)
casus belli (an event used to justify starting a war)
Antonym:
ending (event whose occurrence ends something)
Meaning:
The time at which something is supposed to begin
Classified under:
Nouns denoting time and temporal relations
Synonyms:
starting time; showtime; outset; offset; get-go; commencement; kickoff; start; beginning; first
Context examples:
they got an early start / she knew from the get-go that he was the man for her
Hypernyms ("beginning" is a kind of...):
point; point in time (an instant of time)
Hyponyms (each of the following is a kind of "beginning"):
birth (the time when something begins (especially life))
incipience; incipiency (beginning to exist or to be apparent)
starting point; terminus a quo (earliest limiting point)
threshold (the starting point for a new state or experience)
Antonym:
end (the point in time at which something ends)
middle (time between the beginning and the end of a temporal period)
Meaning:
The first part or section of something
Classified under:
Nouns denoting cognitive processes and contents
Context example:
'It was a dark and stormy night' is a hackneyed beginning for a story
Hypernyms ("beginning" is a kind of...):
division; part; section (one of the portions into which something is regarded as divided and which together constitute a whole)
Antonym:
end (a final part or section)
middle (an intermediate part or section)
Meaning:
The place where something begins, where it springs into being
Classified under:
Nouns denoting spatial position
Synonyms:
source; origin; rootage; root; beginning
Context examples:
the Italian beginning of the Renaissance / Jupiter was the origin of the radiation / Pittsburgh is the source of the Ohio River / communism's Russian root
Hypernyms ("beginning" is a kind of...):
point (the precise location of something; a spatially limited location)
Hyponyms (each of the following is a kind of "beginning"):
trail head; trailhead (the beginning of a trail)
point source (a spatially constricted by concentrated source (especially of radiation or pollution))
home (place where something began and flourished)
birthplace; cradle; place of origin; provenance; provenience (where something originated or was nurtured in its early existence)
jumping-off place; point of departure (a place from which an enterprise or expedition is launched)
wellhead; wellspring (the source of water for a well)
headwaters (the source of a river)
fountainhead; head; headspring (the source of water from which a stream arises)
spring (a point at which water issues forth)
derivation (the source or origin from which something derives (i.e. comes or issues))
Meaning:
The act of starting something
Classified under:
Nouns denoting acts or actions
Synonyms:
commencement; beginning; start
Context example:
he was responsible for the beginning of negotiations
Hypernyms ("beginning" is a kind of...):
change of state (the act of changing something into something different in essential characteristics)
Hyponyms (each of the following is a kind of "beginning"):
jumping-off point; point of departure; springboard (a beginning from which an enterprise is launched)
inauguration; startup (the act of starting a new operation or practice)
creation; foundation; founding; initiation; innovation; instauration; institution; introduction; origination (the act of starting something for the first time; introducing something new)
installation; installing; installment; instalment (the act of installing something (as equipment))
jump ball ((basketball) the way play begins or resumes when possession is disputed; an official tosses the ball up between two players who jump in an effort to tap it to a teammate)
kickoff ((football) a kick from the center of the field to start a football game or to resume it after a score)
recommencement; resumption (beginning again)
scrum; scrummage ((rugby) the method of beginning play in which the forwards of each team crouch side by side with locked arms; play starts when the ball thrown in between them and the two sides compete for possession)
startup (the act of setting in operation)
icebreaker (a beginning that relaxes a tense or formal atmosphere)
housing start (the act of starting to construct a house)
activation (making active and effective (as a bomb))
attack; tone-beginning (a decisive manner of beginning a musical tone or phrase)
constitution; establishment; formation; organisation; organization (the act of forming something)
debut; entry; first appearance; introduction; launching; unveiling (the act of beginning something new)
face-off ((ice hockey) the method of starting play; a referee drops the puck between two opposing players)
first step; initiative; opening; opening move (the first of a series of actions)
groundbreaking; groundbreaking ceremony (the ceremonial breaking of the ground to formally begin a construction project)
Instance hyponyms:
Creation ((theology) God's act of bringing the universe into existence)
• BEGINNING (adjective)
Meaning:
Serving to begin
Synonyms:
beginning; first
Context examples:
the beginning canto of the poem / the first verse
Similar:
opening (first or beginning)
